IN 2008, THREE years after being drafted No. 4 overall by the Oklahoma City Hornets, then-New Orleans Pelicans point guard Chris Paul launched his CP3 Elite Guard camp in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Two dozen of the top high school and college guards in the country traveled to the Gateway YMCA for the two-day event, which was, and still is, a family affair self-funded and run by Chris; his brother, C; and their father, Charles.
An hour southwest, down I-40 and I-77, one of the first participants of Paul's camp was quietly playing some of the best college basketball in the country at Davidson College.
Fellow North Carolina native and point guard Stephen Curry was coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 25.9 points per game and led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.
"Going to his camp, following in his shadow after I got drafted, before my rookie year, he taught me what it was like to work and prepare for an NBA season; the time and attention to detail that you needed to put in," Curry told ESPN.